Families of Lucy Letby’s victims vow to continue search for answers on why she killed

The households of infants murdered by Lucy Letby have vowed to continue their search for answers as stress mounted on the hospital the place she labored over what extra may have been finished to cease her killing spree.

The 33-year-old “rogue” nurse was convicted of the homicide of seven infants and the tried homicide of six extra throughout her shifts on the neonatal unit on the Countess of Chester Hospital over a 12 months in 2015 and 2016.

The households of her victims have mentioned they’ve been left “heartbroken, devastated, offended and really feel numb” by her actions.

Following her conviction at Manchester Crown Courtroom on Friday, two of the infants’ households mentioned by a lawyer that it’s “not the tip of our search for answers”.

Yvonne Agnew, head of Slater and Gordon’s Cardiff medical negligence division, mentioned: “Whereas in the present day marks the conclusion of this trial, it isn’t the tip of our search for answers and our combat for justice for our shoppers.

“We’re decided that classes are learnt by the Countess of Chester Hospital, the NHS and the broader medical occupation in order that no infants or dad and mom are put in hurt’s method like this once more.”

It comes as police mentioned they’re reviewing the care of 4,000 infants who have been admitted to the Countess of Chester – and likewise Liverpool Girls’s Hospital when Letby had two work placements – going way back to 2012.

The Chester hospital has come underneath scrutiny over when it known as in police and whether or not extra may have been finished to cease Letby.

A non-statutory unbiased inquiry into its dealing with of the case has been introduced by the Division of Well being and the well being ombudsman has additionally mentioned the NHS should enhance its working tradition when workers elevate “warnings of actual evil”.

There have been 13 deaths on the neonatal unit the place she labored over a one-year interval, the BBC reported, which is 5 occasions the standard charge, and the nurse was on obligation for all of them.

She may have been stopped as early as June 2015 when executives held a gathering the place it was agreed an exterior investigation into the deaths could be held but it surely by no means was, the broadcaster mentioned.

In October that 12 months, after seven infants had died, a hyperlink was made between all of the deadly collapses and Lucy Letby, whom prosecutors described as a “fixed malevolent presence” within the care of the infants.

Regardless of this the hyperlink was believed to be co-incidental.

Dr Susan Gilby, who took over because the hospital’s medical director a month after Letby was arrested, informed the BBC: “The paediatricians have been discussing the horrible nights on name that they have been having, one of them mentioned ‘each time that that is occurring to me, that I’m being known as in for these catastrophic occasions which have been sudden and unexplained, Lucy Letby is there, after which someone else mentioned ‘sure I discovered that’, after which another person had the identical response.”

Paediatrician Dr Stephen Brearey, who blew the whistle on Letby in 2015, informed The Guardian the hospital had been “negligent” in its dealing with of the killings.

Consultants needed to go to the police however officers weren’t known as and, in September 2016, the Royal Faculty of Paediatrics and Youngster Well being was known as to perform a assessment of the unit, the BBC mentioned.

It urged the belief to probe every demise individually however this didn’t occur, it has been reported.

The killer nurse launched a grievance process in opposition to the paediatricians which discovered she had been “discriminated in opposition to and victimised”, and so they have been compelled to write her an apology letter.

She was later taken off the neonatal unit that month following the deaths of two triplet boys.

She was nonetheless working on the belief when she was arrested at her semi-detached residence in Westbourne Highway, Chester, at 6am on July 3 2018.

Throughout searches of her tackle, a quantity of hand-written notes have been found.

On one inexperienced Submit-it word, she wrote “I don’t deserve to dwell. I killed them on objective as a result of I’m not ok to care for them”, “I’m a horrible evil particular person” and in capital letters “I’m evil I did this”.

Talking to the BBC, Dr Gilby mentioned of that point: “The robust opinion was that there could be nothing discovered.

“There was a short overlap of three or 4 days between myself and the outgoing medical director, and his parting phrases to me have been ‘you want to refer the paediatricians to the Normal Medical Council’.”

Former Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Basis Belief chief govt Tony Chambers, who was in cost on the time, mentioned he would co-operate “totally and brazenly” with the inquiry.

Dr Nigel Scawn, medical director on the Countess of Chester Hospital, mentioned in an announcement on Friday: “Since Lucy Letby labored at our hospital, we have now made important adjustments to our companies and I would like to present reassurance to each affected person that will entry our companies that they’ll believe within the care that they are going to obtain.”

However he walked away with out answering as a journalist requested: “Why did hospital managers strive to cease Lucy Letby from being investigated?”

Letby can be sentenced on Monday.

She has already indicated by her legal professionals that she doesn’t want to attend her sentencing or face the victims’ households as they offer heartbreaking affect statements in regards to the impact her actions have had on them.

Letby was cleared of two counts of tried homicide and jurors didn’t attain verdicts on six counts of tried homicide.

Prosecutors have mentioned they might search a retrial on the counts which jurors have been unable to attain verdicts on and have 28 days to give discover of any intention to achieve this.